


Rebirth

by roguelightning



Category: Within Temptation (Band)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27864594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roguelightning/pseuds/roguelightning
Summary: There are stories about the cave, terrifying tales of people losing themselves in its mazes, of people that never came back. But the most terrifying tales are of the ones who do come back. When a young witch defies her elders and goes into the cave, her life is changed forever. Inspired by the music video for The Purge.
Kudos: 3





	Rebirth

Finding the cave had not been an easy task for the young witch. The elders knew about it, of course, but they also spoke of the terrible dangers that awaited anybody who dared enter it. They spoke of losing yourself in its mazes, of people who had entered the cave and had never come back. But the most frightening tales were about the ones who did come back. The elders’ lips trembled as they told stories of people coming back changed, their bodies have become vessels for something else. Something terrifyingly ancient and powerful that the elders didn’t dare speak the name of.

Fortunately, they hadn’t been able to withhold knowledge from the young witch forever. She had used their pride against the weakest of them. It turned out a few well-placed compliments and a few better-placed smiles were enough to convince him to hand her a parchment that told her how to get to the cave, and also the ritual one could perform once inside the sacred cave. And if the witch had sworn that she wasn’t going to use it and he had believed her, well. She was almost certain she wasn’t going to survive the ritual anyway.

And still, what she felt when she stepped inside the cave wasn’t fear. It was hope. And it was that hope that carried her steps to the altar and made her kneel in front of it. It was only when she discovered the knife at the base of the altar that reality caught up with her. However, she gripped the knife and stood up, her fingers sinking into its handle as she stood up. Her hand was trembling, but she approached the basin and looked inside it, seeing herself reflected in the surface of the potion. Only it wasn’t her reflection that stared back at her.

The woman in the reflection was no stranger to the young witch. It had been the same woman who had been haunting her dreams for a while now. She had always seemed to dream of meeting her in strange realms she had no memory of visiting while awake. At first, they had met in a cathedral, the image of a Christ on the cross looming over them as they met and touched hands for the first time. The second time she had seen the other woman, the witch had been dreaming of other worlds, of an endless desert where the woman had been waiting for her. She had woken up just as their hands had touched in that dream, but the woman had never been gone from the witch’s mind since that moment. No matter the realm they met in, whenever they joined hands, they seemed to unleash some odd power that was hidden deep inside them. The witch secretly desired that power, so she had begun searching for the other woman in this realm as well, desperate to find some answers. She thought she had managed to catch a glimpse of her once or twice, but she always seemed to be just at the edge of her reach, almost taunting her. But she had never felt more close than she did now, staring back at the witch from the surface of the potion. And while the other woman looked just like her, the witch knew deep down that they were nothing alike. But maybe that was a good thing. Maybe her life required someone more powerful than her. Someone who would be able to deal with everything destiny had decided to throw at her. Her reflection seemed to approve of this, her lips split in an encouraging, somewhat daring smile, so the witch closed her eyes and cut.

She held her fist over the goblet and let her blood fill it, the sound of her blood falling into the water sickly music to her ears. Then, she let her hand thread through the surface of the potion, its cold soothing her pain as she mixed it with her blood. She raised the goblet to her lips and drank, without noticing the almost predatory look her reflection had.

The first thing the witch felt was a sharp pain in her back as if her body had hit the floor. But that couldn’t have been right – she was standing firmly on her feet, facing the basin as the potion spread through her system.

It was cold as ice at first, its metallic taste tingling on her tongue. But, as the potion went down her throat and lower in her body, the witch felt a small fire starting to burn inside her. It started small, in the pit of her stomach, and spread from there, traveling through her veins at the speed of light. The warmth was enjoyable at first, not unlike the one you get from taking a sip of wine. By the time the fire reached the witch’s heart, however, it became too much to bear. 

The witch’s reflection was gone now, but she was too much in pain to notice it. She staggered on her feet, unable to hold a scream as the fire took over her. She grabbed the edges of the basin, trying to find something, anything to tether her as it burned inside her, clawing at her skin as if it wanted to be released. 

The witch was dying, she was sure of that now. But, as her life flashed before her eyes, each mistake she had made amplified ten times by her mind, she couldn’t help but think there was a beauty in this pain. There was beauty in the way the fire broke from her back, making her look like a dragon that had spread its wings for the first time. And there was beauty in the symbols etched on her skin now, a silent testament of her rebirth. The witch had died that day, but, as she left the cave, not taking a second glance at the empty carcass that was left on the floor, she realized she had never felt more alive. And, as she stepped outside, now blind to the light that was surrounding her, she realized she had never seen more clearly.


End file.
